Fencing has existed for many years. In particular, wrought iron fencing or the like has been developed to produce a more decorative type of fencing. This type of fencing comprises a series of vertical pickets which are attached to horizontal rails. In some known types of wrought iron fencing, the rails have holes through which the pickets extend. Screws connect the pickets attach to the rails with screws or by welding.
In the past, wrought iron fencing erected upon a sloping terrain was typically produced on-site by planting several spaced-apart vertical posts, mounting the rails to the posts at an angle generally parallel to the sloping terrain, and mounting the vertical pickets to the rails. This method of producing fencing is time consuming and inefficient.
To meet the need for providing fencing that conforms to the slope of the terrain, wrought iron fencing has been custom manufactured. The terrain to be fenced is measured to determine the slopes. Plats are marked, and custom fence sections manufactured. These have to be labeled in order to track the location and sequence during installation. However, during the manufacturing, the terrain may have changed. For example, a pool area to be fenced may change due to subterranean problems such as rocks and the like uncovered during installation of the pool. The area to be fenced thus may change or be re-graded. This results in re-work or scrap sections of fencing, which increases the costs of the fencing.
Recently, fencing has been produced off-site wherein the rails and pickets are all mounted together to form a panel. The pickets are welded to the rails with the use of a top weld between the picket and the top rail and a bottom weld between the picket and the bottom edge of the bottom rail, as shown in prior art FIG. 6. (In other embodiments, the pickets and the rails are secured with screws.) The fence panel is then transported to the erection site and installed. To track or conform to the slope of the terrain, the panel is shifted (or in the term of the art, racked, so that the pickets remain substantially vertical and rails are oriented substantially parallel to the sloping terrain. The fence panel is racked so that the rails are allowed to be reoriented with respect to the pickets thereon through the use of a mild steel weld (or screws) which allow flexing of the weld.
While this shifting of the fence panel has worked fairly well when shifting only a small amount or a few degrees, there is a problem with more significant changes in the angle of the rails relative to the pickets. When the panel is shifted to a large degree, the rails tend to roll or rotate on the unwelded side and thereby partially separate or pull themselves away from the pickets. The rails and pickets there are not flush to each other and the fence has unsatisfactory gaps at the connections between the rails and the pickets. The gaps weaken the fence panel and are unsightly. My prior patent application Ser. No. 10/027,203, filed Dec. 21, 2001, discloses an improved fencing panel that that can be produced off-site and shifted during assembly on-site without causing the rails to separate from the pickets.
While this improved fencing has meet with success in providing picket fencing that readily conforms to the contour of the terrain, gates remain a problem. The gates are made of rigid panels and when installed on contoured terrain, define a “stepped” appearance to the fencing rather than a smoothly continuous tracking of the contour.
Accordingly, a need remains for a fencing gate that can be produced off-site and shifted during assembly on-site without causing the rails to separate from the pickets. It is to the provision of such that the present invention is primarily directed.